Trade war truce: China’s Sinograin confirms US soybean purchase

China’s Sinograin said it had recently bought a few batches of soybeans from the United States, amid a truce in a trade war between the two nations.

The state stockpiler made the purchases “to implement the consensus achieved by China and the United States’ heads of state”, it said in a statement on Wednesday that was published on its website.

Reuters reported a week earlier that Sinograin and fellow state-run Chinese firm Cofco had bought over 1.5 million tonnes of US soybeans, in the first major purchases since China and the United States agreed a temporary ceasefire in their trade row earlier this month.

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The US Department of Agriculture later confirmed sales to China, but Sinograin’s statement, which did not specify the volumes purchased, marks the first official confirmation from the Chinese side.

China in July imposed a 25 per cent tariff on imports of soybeans from the United States and this remains in place as the two countries look to resolve their trade row by the end of their 90-day truce on March 1.

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Benchmark soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade spiked to US$9.28 a bushel on December 12, their highest level since June, on news that Chinese purchases had resumed. They have since eased back to US$9 a bushel.